Let's talk off season moves..improvements etc? Post all your thoughts here >
Official Packers Off Season Thread
- Thread starter Mark87
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Ted Thompson needs to hit FA hard this year. He needs to see his guys he has drafted suck and provide zero depth in case of injury which the team had a ton of this year. Plus he has almost no blue chippers on this team. Ted needs to get over his ego of building a winning team with only guys he drafts because if he keeps this up this team won't be a playoff team before long with the talent he keeps adding.
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With what we know right now, this next season, 2016, is probably the last year the window to get to a championship will be wide open. After that, I can easily see it narrowing. If Rodgers has more seasons like this one, I could even see it closing before he's done playing here.
Offense
QBs: Rodgers and Hundley are under contract. Tolzien is a FA, but my best guess is that he's back. I don't think anybody's gonna make a go at him. They have their TC QB lined up in Ryan Williams, who they signed to a futures deal. We won't see any new QBs in Green Bay this offeseason.
RB/FB: Kuhn, Starks, and Crockett are FAs, though Crockett is exclusive. That leaves Lacy and Rip as the only backfield players under contract. I would guess Crockett will be around for TC, and between Kuhn and Starks, my $$ would go towards Kuhn being the one who stays. Starks had problems holding onto the ball, and while he's been injury free for 2 whole seasons, I wouldn't trust that to hold out again. Crockett takes his place next season and the Packers draft a speed/third-down type back.
OL: Every starter comes back for one more season together. And this is the area which leads me most to believe that 2016 is the last shot for MM, Rodgers, and TT. Bakhtiari, Lang, and Sitton are Free Agents after next season, Linsley is a FA after 2017, Bulaga is locked up til 2020. The depth outside of Tretter is garbage (sorry Barclay, you're probably back, but we know your limitations (and Tretter is a FA in 2017 as well)). I don't think the Packers hold on to all three FA OLs after 2016, so drafting OL this year will be key. The offensive linemen taken this year have to have the ability to be good starters, in case we lose a guy up front. In my mind, the issues that exist on the o-line and d-line have to be of the utmost importance this offseason, because if you can't win at the line, you won't really win that many games.
WR: JJ is gone, thanks for the help, but it would border on lunacy to bring him back next season. Nelson and Montgomery will return from injury, Abbey and Janis have some game experience, and hopefully Adams is healthy and over whatever plagued him this season. The top five guys are here through 2018 (Abbrederis' contract info wasn't up on rotoworld), but I'd still like to see them go after a speedy receiver who can play on the outside.
TE: Backman, Henry, Perillo, and Richard Rodgers are all probably here at least through TC, which is a shame because this is the position in most need of an upgrade. Quarless is gone. He's a FA and I see no reason for TT to bring him back. If they can find the right kind of talent to bolster this roster spot, this and a speedy pass-catching RB are what will keep the window open on offense a little longer. Maybe we can trade Tretter, a pick, and Adams to NE for Gronk?
Defense
DL: Boyd, Daniels, Jones, Pennel, and Ringo are the only guys who we know right now will at least be here for TC next season. As a number one pick, Jones is a disappointment due to his draft position, but has flashed good talent, and did play fairly consistently this past season.
Guion and Raji are both free agents, but I think Guion is gone. Raji, keep him, keep him at the nose, but don't over pay him. He did ok up front this year, but I think it was the athleticism of Clay Matthews at the ILB spot that helped make the interior DL look good this year.
LB: Barrington comes back from injury and has one more year under contract. Bradford, Elliot, and Palmer will be here for TC. Matthews and Ryan are under contract through 2018. I would imagine we keep Peppers another season unless someone wants to make an offer for him, but I expect he'll become more situational next year. Thomas, Perry, Mulumba, and Neal are all Free Agents at the end of the league year. I think we need to keep one of Neal or Perry, and I'd lean towards Neal b/c he can play DL in a pinch.
It's very likely some sort of piping induced dream, but Von Miller, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Danny Trevathan, Bruce Irvin, and Mark Barron are all players that, if they hit free agency, I'd like knowing that TT was at least trying to make an offer.
CB: Goodson, Gunter, Randall, Rollins, and Shields are all back, and the two rookies played well, for rookies. If they can make the next step, we have a very good group of corners. If they come back and look like Casey Hayward (who is a free agent) then we'll be in a bit of trouble. I'd only keep Casey if he'll accept being paid like a slot corner. Otherwise, see ya.
S: Sean Richardson, I hope you're alright buddy. But he's gone. Hyde is here one more season, HHCD and Burnett are tied together until at least 2018, and Banjo is a exclusive FA. I think they'd like to find another body like Richardson, but I don't think they'll spend a draft pick here. Find a speedy UDFA and bring him in.
P: by all accounts, Masthay did what he was asked to do this year, and set a Packer record doing so. That leaves me not that impressed with the job done by the Zooker. That will be looked at during the offseason. Tim is under contract for one more year. His value as a holder will bring him back.
LS: Brett Goode is a free agent who tore his ACL in December, Rick Lovato apparently signed a 3 year deal. Looks like the transition is complete.
Coaching Staff
MM is here to stay for another season. There need to be some changes, though. I can't see Clements wanting to stay. I can't see Alex Van Pelt retaining control over both the QBs and the WRs. I wonder what Edgar Bennett's role actually is. I bet Jerry Fontenot cries himself to sleep every once in a while. Hats off to the defensive staff. And I believe the training staff did a good job, too. We didn't really have those "nagging" type, preventable injuries that have plagued us in years past. Nope. We just had full-on torn ligaments, blown joints, and rung bells.
This year clearly shows that the Packers lack the speed on offense to really mess with opposing defenses, and it took the offensive staff most (almost all) of the season to realize that they were stale, predictable, and ineffective. That changed in the postseason, but it should have changed a hell of a lot sooner than that.
Offense
QBs: Rodgers and Hundley are under contract. Tolzien is a FA, but my best guess is that he's back. I don't think anybody's gonna make a go at him. They have their TC QB lined up in Ryan Williams, who they signed to a futures deal. We won't see any new QBs in Green Bay this offeseason.
RB/FB: Kuhn, Starks, and Crockett are FAs, though Crockett is exclusive. That leaves Lacy and Rip as the only backfield players under contract. I would guess Crockett will be around for TC, and between Kuhn and Starks, my $$ would go towards Kuhn being the one who stays. Starks had problems holding onto the ball, and while he's been injury free for 2 whole seasons, I wouldn't trust that to hold out again. Crockett takes his place next season and the Packers draft a speed/third-down type back.
OL: Every starter comes back for one more season together. And this is the area which leads me most to believe that 2016 is the last shot for MM, Rodgers, and TT. Bakhtiari, Lang, and Sitton are Free Agents after next season, Linsley is a FA after 2017, Bulaga is locked up til 2020. The depth outside of Tretter is garbage (sorry Barclay, you're probably back, but we know your limitations (and Tretter is a FA in 2017 as well)). I don't think the Packers hold on to all three FA OLs after 2016, so drafting OL this year will be key. The offensive linemen taken this year have to have the ability to be good starters, in case we lose a guy up front. In my mind, the issues that exist on the o-line and d-line have to be of the utmost importance this offseason, because if you can't win at the line, you won't really win that many games.
WR: JJ is gone, thanks for the help, but it would border on lunacy to bring him back next season. Nelson and Montgomery will return from injury, Abbey and Janis have some game experience, and hopefully Adams is healthy and over whatever plagued him this season. The top five guys are here through 2018 (Abbrederis' contract info wasn't up on rotoworld), but I'd still like to see them go after a speedy receiver who can play on the outside.
TE: Backman, Henry, Perillo, and Richard Rodgers are all probably here at least through TC, which is a shame because this is the position in most need of an upgrade. Quarless is gone. He's a FA and I see no reason for TT to bring him back. If they can find the right kind of talent to bolster this roster spot, this and a speedy pass-catching RB are what will keep the window open on offense a little longer. Maybe we can trade Tretter, a pick, and Adams to NE for Gronk?
Defense
DL: Boyd, Daniels, Jones, Pennel, and Ringo are the only guys who we know right now will at least be here for TC next season. As a number one pick, Jones is a disappointment due to his draft position, but has flashed good talent, and did play fairly consistently this past season.
Guion and Raji are both free agents, but I think Guion is gone. Raji, keep him, keep him at the nose, but don't over pay him. He did ok up front this year, but I think it was the athleticism of Clay Matthews at the ILB spot that helped make the interior DL look good this year.
LB: Barrington comes back from injury and has one more year under contract. Bradford, Elliot, and Palmer will be here for TC. Matthews and Ryan are under contract through 2018. I would imagine we keep Peppers another season unless someone wants to make an offer for him, but I expect he'll become more situational next year. Thomas, Perry, Mulumba, and Neal are all Free Agents at the end of the league year. I think we need to keep one of Neal or Perry, and I'd lean towards Neal b/c he can play DL in a pinch.
It's very likely some sort of piping induced dream, but Von Miller, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Danny Trevathan, Bruce Irvin, and Mark Barron are all players that, if they hit free agency, I'd like knowing that TT was at least trying to make an offer.
CB: Goodson, Gunter, Randall, Rollins, and Shields are all back, and the two rookies played well, for rookies. If they can make the next step, we have a very good group of corners. If they come back and look like Casey Hayward (who is a free agent) then we'll be in a bit of trouble. I'd only keep Casey if he'll accept being paid like a slot corner. Otherwise, see ya.
S: Sean Richardson, I hope you're alright buddy. But he's gone. Hyde is here one more season, HHCD and Burnett are tied together until at least 2018, and Banjo is a exclusive FA. I think they'd like to find another body like Richardson, but I don't think they'll spend a draft pick here. Find a speedy UDFA and bring him in.
P: by all accounts, Masthay did what he was asked to do this year, and set a Packer record doing so. That leaves me not that impressed with the job done by the Zooker. That will be looked at during the offseason. Tim is under contract for one more year. His value as a holder will bring him back.
LS: Brett Goode is a free agent who tore his ACL in December, Rick Lovato apparently signed a 3 year deal. Looks like the transition is complete.
Coaching Staff
MM is here to stay for another season. There need to be some changes, though. I can't see Clements wanting to stay. I can't see Alex Van Pelt retaining control over both the QBs and the WRs. I wonder what Edgar Bennett's role actually is. I bet Jerry Fontenot cries himself to sleep every once in a while. Hats off to the defensive staff. And I believe the training staff did a good job, too. We didn't really have those "nagging" type, preventable injuries that have plagued us in years past. Nope. We just had full-on torn ligaments, blown joints, and rung bells.
This year clearly shows that the Packers lack the speed on offense to really mess with opposing defenses, and it took the offensive staff most (almost all) of the season to realize that they were stale, predictable, and ineffective. That changed in the postseason, but it should have changed a hell of a lot sooner than that.
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Top Tier Needs: TE, ILB, OL,
Second Tier: OLB, RB (starks ain't getting any younger and Crockett has yet to prove anything on the field) DL, DB, WR is almost top tier, we don't know how Jordy and Monty will be post injury, Adams laid an egg this year, and Janis and Abbey showed flashes but nothing consistent. If they all achieve their upside then GB is set. If not GB needs more WR
First couple rounds of draft focus BPA in that top tier, mid to late everything else. I want to see players. I'm so tired of year after year after year talking about "prospects" who are "getting there" or "learning"... Guess what, tomorrow never comes, we need guys for depth that can play now if they need to.
MM and coaches: Dedicated WR coach is top priority. MM said he's keeping play calling so that is even more important. To Capers credit his D played pretty well. But I still want a younger DC who is a little more forward thinking and will go for the jugular.
I'm not under any illusions TT goes to the FA pool. But all 4 teams left who have a chance at a SB this year and are still alive used FA to plug holes and add depth. Just sayin....
Packer FA.. honestly not many I resign besides Crosby and Hayward. The others, maybe for close to minimum for the young guys. But none are so important to GB they need to be kept at higher prices.
MM's post season presser was the first time in a long time I've seen any glimpse of "Pittsburgh tough" McCarthy. He needs to keep that up.. Keep the fire lit under these guys all season. Go for the throat, beat teams by 60 if you can.. no get a lead and play not to lose... play to win.
Second Tier: OLB, RB (starks ain't getting any younger and Crockett has yet to prove anything on the field) DL, DB, WR is almost top tier, we don't know how Jordy and Monty will be post injury, Adams laid an egg this year, and Janis and Abbey showed flashes but nothing consistent. If they all achieve their upside then GB is set. If not GB needs more WR
First couple rounds of draft focus BPA in that top tier, mid to late everything else. I want to see players. I'm so tired of year after year after year talking about "prospects" who are "getting there" or "learning"... Guess what, tomorrow never comes, we need guys for depth that can play now if they need to.
MM and coaches: Dedicated WR coach is top priority. MM said he's keeping play calling so that is even more important. To Capers credit his D played pretty well. But I still want a younger DC who is a little more forward thinking and will go for the jugular.
I'm not under any illusions TT goes to the FA pool. But all 4 teams left who have a chance at a SB this year and are still alive used FA to plug holes and add depth. Just sayin....
Packer FA.. honestly not many I resign besides Crosby and Hayward. The others, maybe for close to minimum for the young guys. But none are so important to GB they need to be kept at higher prices.
MM's post season presser was the first time in a long time I've seen any glimpse of "Pittsburgh tough" McCarthy. He needs to keep that up.. Keep the fire lit under these guys all season. Go for the throat, beat teams by 60 if you can.. no get a lead and play not to lose... play to win.
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ILB with a pick 3rd round or higher.
TE with a faster than 6.0 40 time
One or two lineman to compete for depth
Punter
Maybe another CB if we let Hayward go.
A small change of pace RB might be useful if we find one suitable.
TE with a faster than 6.0 40 time
One or two lineman to compete for depth
Punter
Maybe another CB if we let Hayward go.
A small change of pace RB might be useful if we find one suitable.
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Agreed
OLB/ILB biggest needs with TE not far behind.
I think Mulamba, Palmer, Barrington are at BEST average, to at worst complete dog poop. We have basically 1 possibly good ILB in Jake Ryan but that's not even sure yet he has a lot of growing up to do. Barrington should not be considered more than a depth backup. Mulumba and Palmer shouldn't be on NFL rosters. Clay is best as a rover like mentioned, not fixed to one position, he's much better playing everywhere. Joe Thomas is probably not much more than a special teams/Dime back. Definitely not a starter.
Peppers has at max 1 year left, and we can only keep 1 of Perry/Neal, so OLB is a need extremely soon.
We need to add at minimum 2 good new guys at ILB and OLB. We also need a stud at TE, and if we can't wait 3 years to develop one, if you remember Finley took a couple years to figure stuff out, I say we bring in a veteran.
In 2016 this will be a very veteran offense. With Oline, RBs, QB, and WRs. TE is the only part with one limited role player (Dick) and NOTHING behind it. Time to get a veteran to complete the TE spot and add depth to the other spots. It's also going to be tough to keep this oline together, I think we will lose 1 or 2 so this is the last year, so you hope the depth can step up. With that in mind I think 2016 is an important year for this offense, the Oline's last year, maybe Lacy's last year (I think starks can come back cheap and we should draft an RB at some point). So before we have to start having to worry about certain parts of the offense having to go through, "Growth/learning phase" we should grab a good free agent TE and go back breaking offensive records. Beyond 2016 there's too many unknowns to know the potential of the offense
On WR it's an enigma because do we have the depth we thought we had or not? We have Jordy, Cobb, Ty, Davante, Abby, Janis. So are Abby and Janis quality starters? It's their 3rd year, can they explode into starting roles or what? Again I'm pissed we didn't get to see more of what we have with them. Are these two guys Derrick Mayes and Robert Fergueson or are they Donald Driver and Greg Jennings? I wouldn't mind bringing in 1 more WR veteran or draft pick to add some speed to this core. Not sure who we'd dump, but if we actually bring in a fast good TE, then I think we could stay pat.
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The team is solid enough that it can draft whatever, but I could see...
RD1. DL (maybe Alabama guys, Billings, Nassib) or ND's Smith ILB if he falls
RD2. OLB (maybe Calhoun from MSU, guy from Maryland) or ILB
RD3. OT
RD4. ILB/DL/OLB
D4comp. that P from Utah
Raji had a groin injury down the stretch, I guess? Not a tape watcher, but he didn't seem to play all that well the last few games. Still think he has a high ceiling, but I don't know if the team will offer a big contract. If Datone Jones is moving primarily to OLB or inside on pass rush downs, then the team could use an infusion of talent on the DL to go with Daniels and undrafted Pennel and late picks Ringo and Boyd and maybe Guion.
And if Datone Jones is at OLB, then I could see them not re-signing Perry and Neal, and the OLB rotation becomes Matthews-Peppers-Jones-Elliott-Mulumba-rookie. ILB would be Barrington-Ryan-Bradford-rookie. I like Clay's hybrid LB ability, but I'd rather have him rushing the QB than covering zones and taking on big blocks from OLs on run plays.
RD1. DL (maybe Alabama guys, Billings, Nassib) or ND's Smith ILB if he falls
RD2. OLB (maybe Calhoun from MSU, guy from Maryland) or ILB
RD3. OT
RD4. ILB/DL/OLB
D4comp. that P from Utah
Raji had a groin injury down the stretch, I guess? Not a tape watcher, but he didn't seem to play all that well the last few games. Still think he has a high ceiling, but I don't know if the team will offer a big contract. If Datone Jones is moving primarily to OLB or inside on pass rush downs, then the team could use an infusion of talent on the DL to go with Daniels and undrafted Pennel and late picks Ringo and Boyd and maybe Guion.
And if Datone Jones is at OLB, then I could see them not re-signing Perry and Neal, and the OLB rotation becomes Matthews-Peppers-Jones-Elliott-Mulumba-rookie. ILB would be Barrington-Ryan-Bradford-rookie. I like Clay's hybrid LB ability, but I'd rather have him rushing the QB than covering zones and taking on big blocks from OLs on run plays.
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I would also look into Ladarius Green from the Chargers if they let him hit FA. Though with Fleener I don't think he is a stretch the field guy. I would take Bennett for the right price though.
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We should have plenty of cap space, I'd even pay a little extra of it gets him to come here and make the Bears worse.